Mpeg-21 digital content protection system

ABSTRACT

The invention is related to Digital Rights Management (DRM) or Intellectual Property Management and Protection (IPMP) for a generic digital content. The concept of IPMP Control Graph and REL-IPMP Control Graph is introduced to carry protection signalling and rights expression data. Both content packaging and terminal processing relating to the above control graph are clearly defined and elaborated.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to Digital Rights Management (DRM) or Intellectual Property Management and Protection (IPMP) for a generic digital content, especially relates to the protection and management of a digital content independent of any data format.

BACKGROUND ART

As various kinds of network are widely deployed, it will be demanded that digital content can be delivered and distributed to user via such network besides using CD, DVD. The corresponding issue is raised by content owner. Is it secure to sell their content in this way?

As hard disk or other storage embedded device become more and more, another issue is that how the content protection technique can ensure the entitled rights to be exercised correctly.

As many different digital formats exist to use for packaging content in digital form for easy transmitting over various network, question arises as how the protection technology can be cross-used among different digital formats.

At the same time users have more demands on the convenience with low cost for enjoying content, even sharing with their friends if they purchase such rights, to have rich user experience.

Conflict is always there since content owner cares for any illegal copy so that content providers are trying to protect content in their own proprietary ways due to lacking of the open protection techniques in the market at that time. This not only brings a big barrier for content owner to sell content, but also brings a heavy cost for CE (consumer electronics) manufacturers to produce different versions of the product just for matching with various protection techniques which content provider use.

MPEG-21 is trying to define a generic framework to enable transparent and augmented use of digital content across a wide range of networks and devices used by different communities. How to protect the contents when they are being used across network or devices, becomes a very important item in MPEG-21, which is the part 4 of MPEG-21, called MPEG-21 IPMP (Intellectual Property Management and Protection)

In the past, people working on MPEG-4/2 IPMP Extension were required to define a content protection scheme based on MPEG-4/2 system since the aim is to protect any content if they are packaged in MPEG-4/2 format.

In MPEG-21, a Digital Item (DI) is defined as a structured digital object for any digital content with a standard representation, identification and description, and it will be used as the fundamental unit of interchange, distribution and transaction within MPEG-21 framework.

The Digital Item is declared and expressed using XML by Digital Item Declaration (DID). Besides a digital content which is represented as media resources in MPEG-21, such as video, music, image, the DID provides the flexible structure to include various kinds of functional metadata. Such metadata is supposed to describe media resource format, to specify resource protection scheme, to give the resource an identification name, to provide User preference, etc.

Besides the core part of DID technology, some other key technologies have also been elaborately developed or are under development. Digital Item Identification (DII), Digital Item Adaptation (DIA), Intellectual Property Management and Protection (IPMP), REL (Rights Expression Language)/RDD (Rights Data Dictionary), as well as ER (Event Reporting) are all the important technologies for extensively exploiting the Digital Items' usage. All the functional metadata defined by these technologies can be placed into a DID document to aid the actual media resource consumption.

A content protection and management mechanism is highly requested to address most of the requirements raised by many different application domains, especially in the scope of MPEG-21 domain, to reflect the market needs.

The requirements on MPEG-21 IPMP are the problems to be targeted and solved here.

IPMP, especially MPEG-21 IPMP shall support the management and protection of intellectual property in descriptors and description schemes.

IPMP, especially MPEG-21 IPMP shall provide for interoperability so that content is able to be played anywhere.

IPMP, especially MPEG-21 IPMP should enable devices to dynamically discover, request, and obtain upgrades for supporting new media formats, IPMP tools and support.

IPMP, especially MPEG-21 IPMP shall provide mechanisms to reference Digital Item Descriptions as part of the language, make reference to external content descriptions.

IPMP, especially MPEG-21 IPMP shall provide mechanisms to associate Expressions with composite Digital Items.

IPMP, especially MPEG-21 IPMP shall provide mechanisms to reference Containers or other aggregations of Digital Items.

IPMP, especially MPEG-21 IPMP should flag that a particular Expression should be subject to protection. The protection itself (if any) is provided by an IPMP system controlling the Expression as a Digital Item.

IPMP, especially MPEG-21 IPMP shall provide mechanisms to reference authentication schemes.

IPMP, especially MPEG-21 IPMP shall provide mechanisms to ensure that the IPMP is independent of the format or delivery channel of Digital Items.

IPMP, especially MPEG-21 IPMP shall unambiguously articulate requirements relating to IPMP Tool and Features.

IPMP, especially MPEG-21 IPMP shall need to identify IPMP Tools and Features to build trusted IPMP implementations.

IPMP Tools and Features are components parts to build an IPMP-enabled Terminal or Peer. It should also possible for a Terminal or Peer to disclose its IPMP capability (IPMP Tools and Features). This makes it possible for a communicating Terminal or Peer to examine IPMP capability of another Terminal or Peer before deciding to engage with it.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Methods of Digital Content Protection with Digital Rights Expression, comprising the following steps of:

-   -   Parsing a digital content description, especially parsing a DID         (Digital Item Declaration) in MPEG-21 scope;     -   Retrieving a digital content identifier (content ID) which is         used to identify the said digital content, especially a DII in         MPEG-21 scope, or sub content identifier;     -   Detecting a rights and protection description holder which         contains rights and protection information applied to the said         digital content with the corresponding content ID, and here the         holder called IPMP (Intellectual Property Management and         Protection) Control Graph Holder or REL (Rights Expression         Language)-IPMP Control Graph holder;     -   Retrieving a flag from the said holder which indicates if the         said content is protected or belongs to free content;     -   Processing the description information carried in the said IPMP         Control Graph or REL-IPMP Control Graph;     -   Checking if rights descriptions or other metadata description is         digital signed by retrieving a flag which is attached to the         said rights or other metadata; and if it is signed, preparing         the corresponding digital signing tool which is indicated by         ToolID;     -   Retrieving a key license from a protected License Manager;     -   Checking the integrity of the said rights or metadata using the         said digital signing tool;     -   Parsing the said rights with their conditions following the         rules which is pre-defined, especially following REL rules which         is defined in MPEG-21 scope, and storing the said entitled         rights and conditions in a buffer for future checking;     -   Checking if the said content is encrypted by retrieving a flag         which is attached to the said content; and if it is encrypted,         preparing the corresponding encryption tool which is indicated         by ToolID;     -   Un-protecting the said encrypted content using the said         encryption tool with the said ToolID, and other information;     -   Checking if the said content is watermarked by retrieving a flag         which is attached to the said content; and if it is watermarked,         preparing the corresponding watermarking tool which is indicated         by ToolID for further action;     -   Processing user's request against the said entitled rights and         conditions stored in the buffer;     -   Exercising the rights requested by the said user if it is         entitled, and     -   Acting on the said un-protected content for playing, rendering,         recording, modifying, deleting, adapting, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a Prior Art: DID Structure with Possible Protection Information Included.

FIG. 2 shows a Prior Art: MPEG-21 IPMP Architecture.

FIG. 3 shows Content Packaging Flow Chart with separate Rights & Protection.

FIG. 4 shows Terminal Processing Flow Chart for Protected & Packaged Content with IPMP Control Graph Information.

FIG. 5 shows Content Packaging Flow Chart with mixed Rights & Protection.

FIG. 6 shows Terminal Processing Flow Chart for Protected & Packaged Content with REL-IPMP Control Graph Information.

FIG. 7 shows IPMP Control Graph for Rights & Protection Information Carried in DID.

FIG. 8 shows IPMP Architecture with IPMP Control Graph Processed.

FIG. 9 shows IPMP Architecture with REL-IPMP Control Graph Processed.

FIG. 10 shows Layout of Rights and Protection in REL-IPMP Control Graph.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(Means of Solving the Problems)

On the content packaging side:

-   -   By introducing the concept of IPMP Control Graph to refer to all         the rights and protection information which is directly         associated with the content     -   By defining IPMP Control Graph or REL-IPMP Control Graph as         protection metadata holder to contain rights and protection         information which is used to package and protect the content;     -   By placing rights & condition in the IPMP Control Graph or         REL-IPMP Control Graph;     -   By placing content encryption information in the IPMP Control         Graph or REL-IPMP Control Graph;     -   By placing watermarking information in the IPMP Control Graph or         REL-IPMP Control Graph;     -   By placing rights protection information in the IPMP Control         Graph or REL-IPMP Control Graph;     -   By placing and indicating key information which is used to         encrypt content in the IPMP Control Graph or REL-IPMP Control         Graph;     -   By placing key/license information in the IPMP Control Graph or         REL-IPMP Control Graph, or in Rights, DID, or somewhere         indicated by keyLocation;     -   By indicating which IPMP Tool is used for encryption, digital         signing, watermarking with ToolID in the IPMP Control Graph or         REL-IPMP Control Graph;     -   By associating rights and protection with the protected digital         content or its sub content using content ID or DII and sub         content ID;     -   By placing IPMP Control Graph or REL-IPMP Control Graph in DID         container or other appropriate place in other application         domains;     -   On the terminal side:     -   By parsing DID to retrieve content ID or sub content ID, and         IPMP Control Graph or REL-IPMP Control Graph;     -   By parsing IPMP Control Graph or REL-IPMP Control Graph to         retrieve Rights and Protection related descriptions;     -   By invoking IPMP tools which are used to protect the content or         rights, or other metadata;     -   By retrieving key information from KeyData Holder directly of         indirectly;     -   By retrieving a key license from a protected License Manager;     -   By un-protecting the protected content using the above obtained         information;     -   By checking Rights' integrity using the tool indicated by         ToolID;     -   By parsing the rights and conditions which are embedded with the         content;     -   By retrieving watermarking descriptions and preparing for         further action;

OPERATION OF THE INVENTION

On the content production side as shown in FIG. 3, IPMP Control Graph is generated as shown in FIG. 7, to contain all the rights and protection information which is directly associated with the content identified by content Identifier (CID) or DII if MPEG-21 could be used.

The content could be watermarked using certain watermarking tool to achieve certain functions, such as finger printing, persistent association, or copyright protection by embedding CID or other information.

The content can be encrypted by an IPMP tool with ToolIDXXX, where xxx is the number which is registered with RA (Registration Authority), to indicate which encryption algorithm is used. A default tool such as AES is defined for simple hardware to implement. The resulted Key information could be carried in IPMP Control Graph directly or by pointing to a location where the whole Key information data could be found. The encryption key can be further encrypted and finally a license could be generated and directly carried in either IPMP Control Graph, in REL data or other Rights Expression Data, or in DID itself, or in somewhere which can be indicated by KeyLocation indicator to be carried in IPMP Control Graph/REL/DID;

-   -   However the segments of key information would also possibly be         packaged together with the associated content segments when the         protected content is transmitted via network for synchronization         purpose.

Rights can be expressed by an independent and existing technology standard such as REL defined in MPEG-21 or other Rights Expression methods, and such rights could be protected by digital signature for its integrity;

-   -   On the content consumption side as shown in FIG. 4, a packaged         content with rights and protection information is subjected to         IPMP Control Graph parsing, from there it can be known if the         content is protected and furthermore to determine whether the         content is encrypted, watermarked, or rights is protected as         well;     -   The corresponding protection tools would be invoked and acted on         the protected object, the tools can be those normative tools         defined by MPEG-21 standard and hence installed in the device,         or the tools can be proprietary and identified by tool IDs which         can be downloaded from a remote location;     -   Tool is identified by a registered Tool ID, which is a flag to         tell terminal or device to prepare the corresponding tool or         locate the tool beforehand;     -   The key information is retrieved from KeyData Holder defined and         carried in IPMP Control Graph directly or indirectly, and it         would also possibly be obtained in segment with the         corresponding content segment to be protected if the content is         distributed through network.

The license information can be obtained from License Manager which could be a temper resistant entity to prevent any disclosure of how a license is retrieved by a license manager.

Rights and content is un-protected by using the above key, key data, and protection tool. Rights is further parsed by Rights Parser to obtain the rights and conditions in clear form, so that the rights and conditions processing can be conducted.

Therefore the un-protected content can be played back, rendered, modified, deleted, or adapted if there is such rights entitled for the user;

Exemplary Embodiment

As shown in FIG. 1 for the prior art [see reference 1 and 2], a digital content is packaged by DID with possible protection associated.

(Reference 1, 2)

-   [1] “ISO/IEC 21000-2 MPEG-21 Digital Item Declaration FDIS”, ISO/IEC     JTC1 SC29/WG11/N4813, May 2002 -   [2] Patent on “Apparatus of a MPEG-21 System”, inventors: Zhongyang     Huang, Ming Ji, Shengmei Shen, Taka Senoh, Takuyo Kogure, Takafumi     Ueno with internal patent number Pat01.028, filed in Japan in Feb.     2002.

The DID has defined a useful model (unit 1.1 in FIG. 1) formed by a set of abstract terms and concepts such as Container, Item, Component, Anchor, Descriptor, Condition, Choice, Selection, Annotation, Assertion, Resource, Fragment, Statement, etc (e.g. shown in FIG. 1 unit 1.6, 1.7, 1.8) for defining Digital Items.

Module 1.2 shown in FIG. 1 is the overall IPMP Control Information used for all the items to be protected inside this container. Module 1.3 and 1.4 are the specific protection information which is associated to the protected content. Module 1.5 is the DII to indicate the content ID.

The further improvements over the Prior Art are:

Since DID is to address static relation among each elements and it can be treated as file format, rights and protection information can be directly associated to its protected content as IPMP_Control_Graph, shown in FIG. 3.

On the other hand, key information can be carried from KeyData Holder in IPMP_Control_Graph directly or indirectly. It could also be segmented when the content is delivered via network.

Rights which might be encrypted is carried separately or together with protection information.

Another Prior Art is shown in FIG. 2 [see reference 3] for MPEG-21 IPMP Architecture.

(Reference 3)

-   [3] “MPEG-21 Architecture, Scenarios and IPMP Requirements”, ISO/IEC     JTC1 SC29/WG11/N5874, July 2003

The Rights Expression Language (REL) Engine in module 2.1 is the component that determines REL authorizations, given an authorization request and a set of licenses and root grants. The REL Engine uses the License Manager to help resolve authorization queries.

The Digital Item Manager in module 2.2 parses Digital Item Declarations within Digital Items. The Digital Item Manager also provides access to where the Digital Items are, and creates Digital Item iNstances in module 2.3. The Digital Item Manager passes to the License Manager any Licenses that are embedded within Digital Item Declarations.

The Digital Item iNstance in module 2.3 represents a Digital Item within a Trusted Domain. The Digital Item iNstance contains local metadata about the Digital Item, such as storage location and possibly information about content encryption keys.

The License Manager in module 2.4 supports the REL Engine by managing the persistent state of Licenses and their authorization or revocation status. The License Manager is also responsible for verifying the integrity of Licenses.

The Condition Processor in module 2.5 selects, evaluates and fulfills Conditions, and initiates the execution of authorized Operations (via the DIP Processor, generating a Right Exercise) once conditions are satisfied.

The IPMP User Session Manager in module 2.6 orchestrates the invocation of Digital Item Operations (via the Condition Evaluator), first making sure that proper authorization is obtained (via the REL Engine) and that conditions are evaluated (via the Condition Evaluator).

A Right Exercise in module 2.7 is a record of having exercised a right, i.e., the invocation of a Digital Item Operation. It is maintained by the User Session Manager, and is used to associate the fulfillment of Conditions with the exercise of Rights.

The Digital Item Processing Engine in module 2.8 executes Digital Item Operations, including Digital Item Methods (DIMs), Digital Item Basic Operations (DIBOs) in module 2.9, and Digital Item eXtended Operations (DIXOs) in module 2.10. The DIMs are executed by a DIM Engine, the DIXOs by a DIXO Engine, and the DIBOs by a DIBO Library. The Digital Item Processing Engine updates the User Session State with process state information.

The big issue with FIG. 2 is that there is no protection information to be processed, interpreted and transferred, especially when content is protected by several tools and rights is also protected using different tools. There is no clear picture for people to know how the content is protected and how it should be processed.

The second issue with FIG. 2 is that the data flow from License Manager should not go to REL Engine since the existing REL engine defined in MPEG-21 REL only processes rights expression. The output from license manager could contain the encryption key which is used to decrypt the content controlled by an entity which should be IPMP Manager shown in FIG. 9. The decryption itself can be done in IPMP Tools, DIP Processor, DIME, or DIBO, or DIXO.

The third issue with FIG. 2 is that there is no data flow indication to indicate where those REL data comes from, for REL Engine to process. Such Rights Expression including rights conditions if they are expressed in MPEG-21 REL format, they could be carried as metadata together with DI in a DID container, and processed by DI Manager. DI Manager should be changed into DID Parser which only parses information by following what DID is defined.

The better rights and protection is designed based on the two cases. The first case is where the existing REL is employed for expressing the corresponding rights and conditions and a protection control mechanism is defined to take care of content protection including encryption, watermarking, key management. The second case is where the existing REL is extended by adding protection function which could include encryption, watermarking, key management, etc.

Both cases are elaborated in the following sections.

(Content Packaging and Consumption with Separate Rights and Protection)

As in FIG. 3, it is shown on the content packaging side with rights and protection scheme. REL in module 3.8 is the existing rights expression language to be used to package the relevant rights with their conditions. Other parts through 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.9, 3.11, and 3.13 are the protection related functions. The most important part is in module 3.15, which is the IPMP Control Graph. It can be carried in DID container in MPEG-21, but it also can be carried in other places in different application domains.

When the content is needed to transmit via network, normally it will be segmented, encrypted and stored as Resource somewhere, and the corresponding time-variant key is stored as Key Information in KeyData Holder in IPMP Control Graph in module 3.9 directly or indirectly by pointing to a location.

For example when the protected content is transmitted over RTP, IPMP Control Graph can be carried in SDP (Section Description Protocol), while the key information can be carried in the RTP header or as special case for video and audio packet as long as there is synchronization among time-variant keys and the protected video or audio data.

Module 3.1 is to assign content ID, DII in MPEG-21 could be used here. If necessary sub content ID can be used and the protection can be associated with this sub content ID if the sub content need to be protected.

Module 3.2 is to place a flag in IPMP Control Graph to tell if the content is protected or free. Module 3.3 is to place a flag in IPMP Control Graph to indicate if there is watermarking embedded.

If there is watermarking embedded in the content, module 3.4 will assign watermarking (WM) ToolID for the WM tool used for this case, and ToolID is then recorded and placed in IPMP Control Graph. The module 3.5 will create WM Descriptions including watermarking Interface or API related information which is placed in IPMP Control Graph.

Module 3.6 is to determine if the content will be encrypted, and a flag for “Yes/No” will be placed in IPMP Control Graph in module 3.15.

Module 3.9 is to assign encryption ToolID for the encryption tool used for this case, and ToolID is then recorded and placed in IPMP Control Graph. The module 3.7 is to place Key information in KeyData Holder directly in IPMP Control Graph, or pointing by the Holder to other location.

The encryption key can be further encrypted in module 3.11, and 3.13, and the key as a license is eventually placed in IPMP Control Graph, REL, DID, or somewhere indicated by KeyLocation1.

Module 3.8 is to create and package rights with the corresponding conditions which conforms to the existing REL standard, and this part could be modified and edited by distribution agents in the content distribution value chain.

The module 3.10 is to protect the rights metadata by digitally signing the rights. Module 3.12 is to assign ToolID for the verification of the digital signature, and module 3.14 is to place the Entity_Key in IPMP Control Graph, or in DID, or in somewhere indicated by KeyLocation2.

The detail of module 3.15 is shown in FIG. 7 (a) as an example in the case of MPEG-21 where XML based approach is used to express IPMP Control Graph. A DI (7.2, declared by a DID 7.1) consists of two Items (7.2, 7.3), each of which has their identification scheme (7.4, 7.5) with respective attached media resource (7.8, 7.9). Module 7.6 shows the IPMP Control Graph mentioned above and Module 7.7 gives the actual rights expression (conditions and usage rules) linked to the resource.

FIG. 4 shows the Terminal Processing Flow Chart to process protection & Packaging Information carried in IPMP Control Graph before a protected content could be consumed in module 4.18.

Module 4.1 is to parse DID and IPMP Control Graph information where DID parser is required only for the case IPMP Control Graph is carried in DID in MPEG-21 case.

In the case of content distribution over RTP network, IPMP Control Graph can be retrieved from SDP to obtain rights and protection description information except the key information if it is time-variant.

Module 4.2 is to detect if the content is protected or free. If it is free, it will be able to play back by module 4.18 for consumption. Otherwise there are three branches to go and check in module 4.3, 4.4, and 4.5, respectively.

Module 4.3 is to detect if the Rights is encrypted, module 4.4 is to detect if the content is encrypted, and module 4.5 is to detect if the content is watermarked.

If the rights is protected, module 4.6 is to invoke the protection tool with ToolID and module 4.7 is to check the integrity of the rights using the tool. If the integrity is successfully verified in module 4.8, the rights will be sent to module 4.9 for parsing the rights by REL Engine which conforms to the existing REL standard.

Module 4.11 is to process the rights and conditions attached to the content and store the entitled rights and conditions in a buffer. In module 4.19 those rights requested by the users are subjected to checking against the rights and conditions stored in the buffer.

If there is license carried in Rights, module 4.10 is to retrieve license from License Manager which may be temper resistant (TR) protected.

If the content is protected and encrypted, module 4.13 is to invoke the encryption tool indicated by ToolID carried in IPMP Control Graph, module 4.14 is to retrieve Key Information, and module 4.12 is to obtaining the key license from License Manager.

License Manager here could be protected by temper resistant technique if it is part of the terminal or somewhere in other places, since it will provide the actual license which the decryption engine will use to un-protect the content.

The encryption tool can be defined as default for most of the terminals to use in their implementation, while an IPMP ToolID is provided so that people can choose other than default encryption tool in their special domain. If the platform is allowed to download and use different encryption tool indicated by ToolID, it would achieve extensibility, flexibility and renewability at the same time we will achieve interoperability across different domains.

Key Information could be retrieved from different places in the case of content delivery via various networks. This will depend on where you place key information. If you place them in RTP header, you can get them there, while if you place them as other packets like video and audio data, you can get them by following the same rules applied to video and audio. The time-variant key information is required to obtain in the same time when you need to decrypt the video and audio content.

Module 4.15 is to decrypt the content with the invoked tool, KeyData, and License, then passed to module 4.17 for further processing.

If the content is detected as watermarked in module 4.5, the watermarking tool with ToolID and its description data including interface will be invoked and prepared in module 4.16 for action which is up to user's request.

Finally module 4.17 is to exercise the rights which user is requested based on the entitled rights & conditions, and act on the un-protected content which is the output of module 4.15.

In FIG. 4 Temper Resistant is used to protect the function of License Manager to provide license, Rights & Condition Processing to prepare the rights, even content decryption for obtaining un-protected content.

FIG. 8 shows a modified IPMP Architecture with REL and IPMP Control Graph separately processed. Compared to the Rights and Protection (IPMP Related) functions in FIG. 4 and FIG. 8, it is clear that there are many IPMP related functions missing in the prior art of FIG. 2. Only the blocks in blue color in FIG. 4 which are the module 4.9 for REL Engine, module 4.10 and 4.12 for License Manager, and module 4.11 for Conditions Processing, are introduced in the prior art as shown in FIG. 2. Such function blocks are module 2.1, module 2.4, and module 2.5 in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 8, Module 8.11 is added for parsing and processing IPMP Control Graph information, and the corresponding results are passed to License Manager in module 8.4, REL related data passed to REL Engine in module 8.1 after its integrity is checked, and content protection and watermarking information passed to DI iNstanace in module 8.3 for further processing.

Decrypting, watermarking, etc. in module 8.12, could be conducted in module 8.8 if such method is defined in DIME, or in module 8.9 if it is defined as one function of DIBO, or in module 8.10 if it is an external function.

The line 8.14 is shown for the data flow from IPMP Control Graph processing module to REL Engine, and the line 8.15 is shown for the data flow from IPMP Control Graph processing module to NI iNstance.

The line 8.16 is shown for the data flow from License Manager to the un-protecting block in the module 8.12 for issuing a license.

Module 8.13 is for Event Reporting Engine which is placed in the same trusted domain compared to that in FIG. 2.

TR means Temper Resistance module to be used to protect License Manager operation and Condition Processing Operation.

Other modules have the similar meaning as explained in FIG. 2.

(Content Packaging and Consumption with Mixed Rights and Protection)

In this case, there is no clear boundary between rights and protection, and they are mixed. IPMP Control Graph can be considered as REL-IPMP Control Graph.

Based on the current MPEG-21 REL or other rights expression language, protection of content as well as indicating for how to protect the content is not defined. In this case the existing REL has to be extended to support such protection signaling.

As shown in FIG. 5 which is based on FIG. 3, Module 5.16 is considered as REL+Extension to support content protection signaling by extending the existing REL standard, and module 5.15 is changed into REL-IPMP Control Graph. Module 5.8 is the existing REL function.

Other modules have the same functions as explained above.

As in FIG. 5, it is shown on the content packaging side with rights and protection scheme. REL in module 5.8 is the existing rights expression language to be used to package the relevant rights with their conditions. Other parts through 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.9, 5.11, and 5.13 are the protection related functions. The most important part is in module 5.15, which is the REL-IPMP Control Graph. It is carried in DID container in MPEG-21, but it also can be carried in other places when it is used in different application domains.

When the content is needed to transmit via network, normally it will be segmented, encrypted and stored as Resource somewhere, and the corresponding time-variant key is stored as Key Information in KeyData Holder in REL-IPMP Control Graph in module 5.9 directly or indirectly by pointing to a location.

For example when the protected content is transmitted over RTP, REL-IPMP Control Graph can be carried in SDP (Section Description Protocol), while the key information can be carried in the RTP header or as special case for video and audio packet as long as they are synchronized among time-variant keys and the protected video or audio data.

Module 5.1 is to assign content ID, DII in MPEG-21 could be used here. Module 5.2 is to place a flag in REL-IPMP Control Graph to tell if the content is protected or free. Module 5.3 is to place a flag in REL-IPMP Control Graph to indicate if there is watermarking embedded.

If there is watermarking embedded in the content, module 5.4 will assign watermarking (WM) ToolID for the WM tool used for this case, and ToolID is then recorded and placed in REL-IPMP Control Graph. The module 5.5 will create WM Descriptions including watermarking Interface or API related information which is placed in REL-IPMP Control Graph.

Module 5.6 is to determine if the content will be encrypted, and a flag for “Yes/No” will be placed in REL-IPMP Control Graph in module 5.15.

Module 5.9 is to assign encryption ToolID for the encryption tool used for this case, and ToolID is then recorded and placed in REL-IPMP Control Graph. The module 5.7 is to place Key information in KeyData Holder directly in REL-IPMP Control Graph, or pointing by the Holder to other location.

The encryption key can be further encrypted in module 5.11, and 5.13, and the key as a license is eventually placed in REL-IPMP Control Graph, REL, DID, or somewhere indicated by KeyLocation1.

Module 5.8 is to create and package rights with the corresponding conditions which conforms to the existing REL standard, and this part could be modified and edited by distribution agents in the content distribution value chain.

The module 5.10 is to protect the rights metadata by digitally signing the rights. Module 5.12 is to assign ToolID for the verification of the digital signature, and module 5.14 is to place the Entity_Key in REL-IPMP Control Graph, or in DID, or in somewhere indicated by KeyLocation2.

The detail of module 5.15 is shown in FIG. 7 (b) as an example in the case of MPEG-21 where XML based approach is used to express REL-IPMP Control Graph. The figure is similar to FIG. 7 (a). It uses REL-IPMP Control Graph (7.10) to replace 7.6 and 7.7 modules as shown in FIG. 7 (a) but act as similar function to represent all rights and protection information.

It can be seen from the FIG. 7 (b) that the REL IPMP extension is defined here to contain not only rights expression but also protection descriptions, and such extension is done on the top of the existing MPEG-21 REL or other Rights expression language since they are originally defined just to express rights, conditions, as well as principles and issuers. The ipmpx shown in the XML expression in FIG. 7 (b) is the part of the extension of REL for protection.

As shown in FIG. 6 which is based on FIG. 4, Module 6.19 is considered as REL+Extension to support content protection as well by the extended REL, and module 6.9 is the existing REL engine. Module 6.1 is changed into REL-IPMP Control Graph, and Module 6.0 is a separate DID parser in the case of MPEG-21.

Other modules are the same functions as explained in the above.

In FIG. 6 it is shown for the Terminal Processing Flow Chart to process protection & Packaging Information carried in REL-IPMP Control Graph before a protected content could be consumed in module 6.18.

Module 6.1 is to parse DID and REL-IPMP Control Graph information where DID parser is required only for the case REL-IPMP Control Graph is carried in DID in MPEG-21 case.

In the case of content distribution over RTP network, REL-IPMP Control Graph can be retrieved from SDP to obtain rights and protection description information except the key information if it is time-variant.

Module 6.2 is to detect if the content is protected or free. If it is free, it will be able to play back by module 6.18 for consumption. Otherwise there are three branches to go and check in module 6.3, 6.4, and 6.5, respectively.

Module 6.3 is to detect if the Rights is encrypted, module 6.4 is to detect if the content is encrypted, and module 6.5 is to detect if the content is watermarked.

If the rights is protected, module 6.6 is to invoke the protection tool with ToolID and module 6.7 is to check the integrity of the rights using the tool. If the integrity is successfully verified in module 6.8, the rights will be sent to module 6.9 for parsing the rights by REL Engine which conforms to the existing REL standard.

Module 6.11 is to process the rights and conditions attached to the content and store the entitled rights and conditions in a buffer. In module 6.19 those rights requested by the users are subjected to checking against the rights and conditions stored in the buffer.

If there is license carried in Rights, module 6.10 is to retrieve license from License Manager which may be temper resistant (TR) protected.

If the content is protected and encrypted, module 6.13 is to invoke the encryption tool indicated by ToolID carried in REL-IPMP Control Graph, module 6.14 is to retrieve Key Information, and module 6.12 is to obtaining the key license from License Manager.

License Manager here could be protected by temper resistant technique if it is part of the terminal or somewhere in other places, since it will provide the actual license which the decryption engine will use to un-protect the content.

The encryption tool can be defined as default for most of the terminals to use in their implementation, while an IPMP ToolID is provided so that people can choose other than default encryption tool in their special domain or case. If the platform is allowed to download and use different encryption tool indicated by ToolID, it would achieve extensibility, flexibility and renewability at the same time we will achieve interoperability across different domains.

Key Information could be retrieved from different places in the case of content delivery via various networks. This will depend on where you place key information. If you place them in RTP header, you can get them there, while if you place them as other packets like video and audio data, you can get them by following the same rules applied to video and audio. The time-variant key information is required to obtain in the same time when you need to decrypt the video and audio content.

Module 6.15 is to decrypting the content with the invoked tool, KeyData, and License, then passed to module 6.17 for further processing.

If the content is detected as watermarked in module 6.5, the watermarking tool with ToolID and its description data including interface will be invoked and prepared in module 6.16 for action which is up to user's request.

Finally module 6.17 is to exercise the rights which user is requested based on the entitled rights & conditions, and act on the un-protected content which is the output of module 6.15.

In FIG. 6 Temper Resistant is used to protect the functioning of License Manager to provide license, Rights & Condition Processing to prepare the rights, even content decryption for obtaining un-protected content.

FIG. 9 shows for a modified IPMP Architecture with REL-IPMP Control Graph processed. Compared to the Rights and Protection (IPMP Related) functions in FIG. 6 and FIG. 9, it is clear that there are many IPMP related functions missing in the prior art of FIG. 2. Only the blocks in blue color in FIG. 6 which are the module 6.9 for REL Engine, module 6.10 and 6.12 for License Manager, and module 6.11 for Conditions Processing, are introduced in the prior art as shown in FIG. 2. Such function blocks are module 2.1, module 2.4, and module 2.5 in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 9, Module 9.11 is added for parsing and processing IPMP Control Graph information, and the corresponding results are passed to License Manager in module 9.4, REL related data passed to REL Engine in module 9.1 after its integrity is checked, and content protection and watermarking information passed to DI iNstanace in module 9.3 for further processing.

Decrypting, watermarking, etc. in module 9.12, could be conducted in module 9.8 if such method is defined in DIME, or in module 9.9 if it is defined as one function of DIBO, or in module 9.10 if it is an external function.

The line 9.14 is shown for the data flow from REL-IPMP Control Graph processing module to REL Engine, and the line 9.15 is shown for the data flow from REL-IPMP Control Graph processing module to NI iNstance.

The line 9.16 is shown for the data flow from License Manager to the un-protecting block in the module 9.12 for issuing a license.

Module 9.13 is for Event Reporting Engine which is placed in the same trusted domain compared to that in FIG. 2.

TR means Temper Resistance module to be used to protect License Manager operation and Condition Processing Operation.

Other modules have the similar meaning as explained in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 10, Layout of Rights and Protection in IPMP Control Graph or REL-IPMP Control Graph is shown, where the content ID, the protected object's indicator, the protection flags, and the detail rights and conditions as well as the detail protection descriptions are placed and carried in this holder.

EFFECTIVE OF INVENTION

The invention is very effective when content is required to be protected with rights and conditions, especially such content can be in any data form and could be transmitted via various network.

The invention is effective when such protection is required to associate with the protected content via content ID, especially such protection information is defined as a set of descriptions attached to the protected content using content ID, or DII in MPEG-21;

-   -   The invention is effective when such protection is placed in a         generic IPMP Control Graph holder or REL-IPMP Control Graph         holder, which is clean and convenient for content creation,         content distribution, as well as content consumption, and such         holder could be carried in DID in MPEG-21 static file format or         carried in SDP for RTP transmission.

The invention is effective when each of the protection is indicated by ToolID so that both defined IPMP tool and external IPMP Tool can be used for flexibility, renewalbility and extensibility.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention relates to Digital Rights Management (DRM) or Intellectual Property Management and Protection (IPMP) for a generic digital content, especially relates to the protection and management of a digital content independent of any data format. The invention is very effective when content is required to be protected with rights and conditions, especially such content can be in any data form and could be transmitted via various network. 

1. A Methods of Digital Content Protection with Digital Rights Expression, comprising the following steps of: Parsing a digital content description, especially parsing a DID (Digital Item Declaration) in MPEG-21 scope; Retrieving a digital content identifier (content ID) which is used to identify the said digital content, especially a DII in MPEG-21 scope, or sub content identifier; Detecting a rights and protection description holder which contains rights and protection information applied to the said digital content with the corresponding content ID, and here the holder called IPMP (Intellectual Property Management and Protection) Control Graph Holder or REL (Rights Expression Language)-IPMP Control Graph holder; Retrieving a flag from the said holder which indicates if the said content is protected or belongs to free content; Processing the description information carried in the said IPMP Control Graph or REL-IPMP Control Graph; Checking if rights descriptions or other metadata description is digital signed by retrieving a flag which is attached to the said rights or other metadata; and if it is signed, preparing the corresponding digital signing tool which is indicated by ToolID; Retrieving a key license from a protected License Manager; Checking the integrity of the said rights or metadata using the said digital signing tool; Parsing the said rights with their conditions following the rules which is pre-defined, especially following REL rules which is defined in MPEG-21 scope, and storing the said entitled rights and conditions in a buffer for future checking; Checking if the said content is encrypted by retrieving a flag which is attached to the said content; and if it is encrypted, preparing the corresponding encryption tool which is indicated by ToolID; Un-protecting the said encrypted content using the said encryption tool with the said ToolID, and other information; Checking if the said content is watermarked by retrieving a flag which is attached to the said content; and if it is watermarked, preparing the corresponding watermarking tool which is indicated by ToolID for further action; Processing user's request against the said entitled rights and conditions stored in the buffer; Exercising the rights requested by the said user if it is entitled, and Acting on the said un-protected content for playing, rendering, recording, modifying, deleting, adapting, etc.
 2. A Methods of Digital Content Protection with Digital Rights Expression, whereas Un-protecting the said encrypted content using the said encryption tool with the said ToolID, and other information in claim 1, further comprising the following steps of: Retrieving the key information from KeyData holder in the said IPMP Control Graph or REL-IPMP Control Graph directly or the location pointed by a pointer which is placed in IPMP Control Graph or REL-IPMP Control Graph, and Retrieving a key license from a protected License Manager.
 3. The Methods of Digital Content Protection with Digital Rights Expression, whereas Retrieving a key license from a protected License Manager in claim 2, further comprising the following steps of: Protecting the said Licence Manager using Temper Resistant approach, and Protecting the buffer which is used to store the said retrieved and generated key license, and the said buffer could be Temper Resistant protected.
 4. The Methods of Digital Content Protection with Digital Rights Expression, whereas Parsing the said rights with their conditions following the rules which is pre-defined, especially following REL rules which is defined in MPEG-21 scope, and storing the said entitled rights and conditions in a buffer for future checking in claim 1, further comprising the following steps of: Protecting the said Rights Parser or part of the said Rights Parser using Temper Resistant approach or other approach, and Protecting the said buffer using Temper Resistant approach or other approaches.
 5. The Methods of Digital Content Protection with Digital Rights Expression, whereas Checking if rights descriptions or other metadata description is digital signed by retrieving a flag which is attached to the said rights or other metadata; and if it is signed, preparing the corresponding digital signing tool which is indicated by ToolID in claim 1, here the other metadata description could be DIA (Digital Item Adaptation) in MPEG-21 scope, or other types of metadata, which could be protected and the protection description information is placed in the said IPMP Control Graph or REL-IPMP Control Graph.
 6. The Methods of Digital Content Protection with Digital Rights Expression whereas in claim 1 encryption and decryption could be done using a defined tool as default with a defined ToolID in certain application domain, digital signing could be done using a defined tool as default with a defined ToolID in certain application domain, and other protection such as watermarking could be done by defining an interface or API to achieve flexibility.
 7. The Methods of Digital Content Protection with Digital Rights Expression whereas in claim 1 the operation of un-protecting a content could be done in DIP (Digital Item Processing) Engine as defined in DIME (Digital Item Method Engine), or DIBO (Digital Item Base Operation), or DIXO (Digital Item eXtended Operation).
 8. The Methods of Digital Content Protection with Digital Rights Expression whereas in claim 1 the said REL-IPMP Control Graph means to extend the existing REL of MPEG-21 or other rights expression language to contain protection description information, where IPMPX is defined as the flag used to represent the extension part of protection from the existing REL. 